I Know You Want Me: So You Think You Can Dance Episode #11

Our opening dance starts off steamy and sexy. They dance to that super danceable Calla Oche song. I want to download that song on iTunes, but I KNOW by July Hot 99.5 will have played it five million times, and I’ll be sick of it. The dance itself is amazingly fabulous. I LOVE it. THIS is what I’m talking about—I want more routines like this, that I want to watch over and over again! They must have pre-recorded some sections, because we see Janette and Jeanine dancing on tables in pouring water and dark lighting, but then the stage is all kinds of arid. The whole production is nothing short of fantastic. And it was choreographed by…Dmitry, Tabitha and Napoleon. That may well be the best collaboration ever.

Nigel delivers a very nice tribute to Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. One thing I love about this show is how smart and articulate the judges and host are. Except for the rare crazy guest judge, there is no SYTYCD version of Paula.

They trot out the first five couples to learn their fate. Speeding things up a bit, no? O & V are first, and man, do they look nervous. With good cause--they are in the bottom three. Neither one seems surprised, but they both look so dejected that my heart breaks a little. Brandon and Jeanette are safe. Cat asks Randi and Evan “did your butt made the cut?” And it did. Jeanine, Philip, Melissa and Ade are also safe. Cat laughs about the horrible lines they’ve written for her, such as “what a difference “Ade” makes, but will it be a night to forget?” I totally covet the job of terrible joke writer for SYTYCD.

Of the last three couples to go, Karla and Jonathan are first. I think we all know how this one is going to go. We spend most of the recap reviewing Nigel’s huffypuffs. BTW, he’s far less of a curmudgeon tonight, probably because he’s back to his nice suits. See, you DO feel better when you’re well dressed. I shall use this rationale to justify my shopping sprees to my husband. As expected, they are totally in the bottom three. Kayla and Kupono learn they are safe, and Kupono clearly needs a lesson in good sportsmanship. You know, when I was in lower school, we were graded on “Winning with humility/ losing with grace”. Did Kupono skip that day?

Mary and Toni coyly dance around the “are you surprised to see any of these couples in the bottom three” question, until Nigel knocks off that nonsense and tells them to spill it.

Cat delightedly introduces The Rage Boys crew. I would assume these are a bunch of hooligans by their name. Turns out to be a bunch of boys, probably ages 6-16, who are crazy good dancers. Think “Bring It On” meets preppy college boys a cappella group. Cat is beside herself in love and actually kowtows to the littlest member crew. He is really frickin’ cute.

Our solos are next. Oscar is first. She’s as good as can be expected when performing your specialty requires a partner—more latin, less crazy drunk. Vitolio is amazing, but why can’t he do that during his performances? Karla seems really nervous, and keeps falling out of pirouettes. That is such a pet peeve of mine; it’s not all about how many rotations you can do. If you fall out of it, it’s crap! Jonathan gets all samba-y and flippy in the air. Caitlyn does really well, I think. The key difference between Jonathan and Caitlyn’s use of gymnastics is that she incorporates it as an integral part of her routine, and he just throws in a back tuck as it pleases him. Jason rolls around on the ground and looks intently at his hand. What the heck? Wasn’t he the one who was amazing last week? I think Karla and Jason should go home, based on this.

The Veronica’s perform “take me on the floor”. Fun! They are dressed like they raided Betsy Johnson, and are sexually ambiguous. They scare my dog.

The judges return with a unanimous decision for the girls. Caitlyn is safe, and although I’m not her biggest fan, I think that’s the right call. She seems so relieved. They tell Karla she didn’t do well, and tell Oscar she’s not growing as a dancer. Consequently…Oscar is going home. She starts choking up, and says she will remember working with Vitolio the most. Aww.

The judges were not unanimous in their decision on the guys. Nigel tells Vitolio he has a lot of promise, but needs to deliver. I agree! Jonathan is told that his gymnastics is outstanding, but he’s supposed to be a dancer. Jason is told his solo this week was desperate and not really even dancing (I should totally be a judge!). But, he is safe. Then Nigel yells at him to get off the stage. Easy now! And the safe one is Vitolio. Goodbye, Jonathan. Paloma will miss you. I think Vitolio and Karla will be a good couple, though!!!